Incorporating basic needs to reconcile poverty and ecosystem services

Conservation managers frequently face the challenge of protecting and sustaining biodiversity without producing detrimental outcomes for (often poor) human populations that depend on ecosystem services for their well-being. However, mutually beneficial solutions are often elusive and can mask trade-offs and negative outcomes for people. To deal with such trade-offs, ecological and social thresholds need to be identified to determine the acceptable solution space for conservation. Although human well-being as a concept has recently gained prominence, conservationists still lack tools to evaluate how their actions affect it in a given context. We applied the theory of human needs to conservation by building on an extensive historical application of need approaches in international development. In an innovative participatory method that included focus groups and household surveys, we evaluated how human needs are met based on locally relevant thresholds. We then established connections between human needs and ecosystem services through key-informant focus groups. We applied our method in coastal East Africa to identify households that would not be able to meet their basic needs and to uncover the role of ecosystem services in meeting these. This enabled us to identify how benefits derived from the environment were contributing to meeting basic needs and to consider potential repercussions that could arise through changes to ecosystem service provision. We suggest our approach can help conservationists and planners balance poverty alleviation and biodiversity protection and ensure conservation measures do not, at the very least, cause serious harm to individuals. We further argue it can be used as a basis for monitoring the impacts of conservation on multidimensional poverty.     

Combined integral and particle model for describing the dispersion,dilution, terminal layer formation and influence area from a point source discharge into a water body

Contamination of coastal water is a persistent threat to ecosystems around the world. In this study, a novel model for describing the dispersion, dilution, terminal layer formation and influence area from a point source discharge into a water body is presented and compared with field measured data. The model is a Combined Integral and Particle model (CIPMO). In the initial stage, the motion, dispersion and dilution of a buoyant jet are calculated. The output from the buoyant jet model is then coupled with a Lagrangian Advection and Diffusion model describing the far-field. CIPMO ensures that both the near- and far-field processes are adequately resolved. The model either uses empirical data or collects environmental forcing data from open source hydrodynamic models with high spatial and temporal resolution. The method for coupling the near-field buoyant jet and the particle tracking model is described and the output is discussed. The model shows good results when compared with measurements from a field study.

     

Benefits of supplementing an industrial waste anaerobic digester with energy crops for increased biogas production

Currently, there is increasing competition for waste as feedstock for the growing number of biogas plants. This has led to fluctuation in feedstock supply and biogas plants being operated below maximum capacity. The feasibility of supplementing a protein/lipid-rich industrial waste (pig manure, slaughterhouse waste, food processing and poultry waste) mesophilic anaerobic digester with carbohydrate-rich energy crops (hemp, maize and triticale) was therefore studied in laboratory scale batch and continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTR) with a view to scale-up to a commercial biogas process. Co-digesting industrial waste and crops led to significant improvement in methane yield per ton of feedstock and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio as compared to digestion of the industrial waste alone. Biogas production from crops in combination with industrial waste also avoids the need for micronutrients normally required in crop digestion. The batch co-digestion methane yields were used to predict co-digestion methane yield in full scale operation. This was done based on the ratio of methane yields observed for laboratory batch and CSTR experiments compared to full scale CSTR digestion of industrial waste. The economy of crop-based biogas production is limited under Swedish conditions; therefore, adding crops to existing industrial waste digestion could be a viable alternative to ensure a constant/reliable supply of feedstock to the anaerobic digester.     

Socio-economic research in support of climate policy development: Mistra's Research Program Clipore

Mistra's Climate Policy Research Program, Clipore, is one of the largest research programs directed to support international climate policy development, involving research groups in Sweden, Norway, United States and India. It has been running from 2004 to 2011 with a budget of more than 100 MSEK (15?M USD). The paper briefly describes the program and its outcomes in relation to climate policy development. Discussion focuses on how the program has been able to be in the front of and include the development of emissions trading systems in Europe and the United States and how the program has been able to follow and produce inputs to the agenda of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The paper also discusses how the program has managed to present its outcomes and maintain an active dialogue with the various stakeholders. The paper emphasises options and obstacles in the communication between science and policy.     

Future Nutrient Load Scenarios for the Baltic Sea Due to Climate and Lifestyle Changes

Dynamic model simulations of the future climate and projections of future lifestyles within the Baltic Sea Drainage Basin (BSDB) were considered in this study to estimate potential trends in future nutrient loads to the Baltic Sea. Total nitrogen and total phosphorus loads were estimated using a simple proxy based only on human population (to account for nutrient sources) and stream discharges (to account for nutrient transport). This population-discharge proxy provided a good estimate for nutrient loads across the seven sub-basins of the BSDB considered. All climate scenarios considered here produced increased nutrient loads to the Baltic Sea over the next 100 years. There was variation between the climate scenarios such that sub-basin and regional differences were seen in future nutrient runoff depending on the climate model and scenario considered. Regardless, the results of this study indicate that changes in lifestyle brought about through shifts in consumption and population potentially overshadow the climate effects on future nutrient runoff for the entire BSDB. Regionally, however, lifestyle changes appear relatively more important in the southern regions of the BSDB while climatic changes appear more important in the northern regions with regards to future increases in nutrient loads. From a whole-ecosystem management perspective of the BSDB, this implies that implementation of improved and targeted management practices can still bring about improved conditions in the Baltic Sea in the face of a warmer and wetter future climate.     

Ptaquiloside in bracken spores from Britain

Secondary metabolites from bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn) are suspected of causing cancer in humans. The main carcinogen is the highly water-soluble norsesquiterpene glucoside ptaquiloside, which may be ingested by humans through food, e.g. via contaminated water, meat or milk. It has been postulated that carcinogens could also be ingested through breathing air containing bracken spores. Ptaquiloside has not previously been identified in bracken spores. The aim of the study was to determine whether ptaquiloside is present in bracken spores, and if so, to estimate its content in a collection of spores from Britain. Ptaquiloside was present in all samples, with a maximum of 29 μg g^?1, which is very low compared to other parts of the fern. Considering the low abundance of spores in breathing air under normal conditions, this exposure route is likely to be secondary to milk or drinking water.     

Male contests in the scarlet rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus) in relation to asymmetries in resource holding power and pairing status

Summary Inter-male contests in relation to asymmetries in their pairing status and resource holding power were studied in a population of the Scarlet rosefinch. Since males in this species do not defend territories before nest building, and since most males have full adult plumage, possession of territory and age are unlikely to be used as cues in the settlement of contests. Rather, two other features are used, namely size and pairing status. In this study, contests between two unpaired males were usually short displacements, whereas 56% of contests between two paired males were escalated. In the first case, the smaller male withdrew in all contests, whereas in the second case there was an equal probability of withdrawal with regard to size. There was no relationship between size difference and the probability of escalation in the contests. Most of the fights between paired and unpaired males escalated, namely in 60% of the cases where the unpaired male was smaller and in 75% of the cases where he was larger. The unpaired male withdrew in 18 out of 23 contests, suggesting that pairing status is more important than size in determining the outcome of a contest. There was no variance in size differences between contestants in short and escalated contests. This study demonstrates that there is a high competition between males for females in this population.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sewage,mussels and tap water

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) have been determined in sewage discharge, mussels and tap water by glass capillary gas chromatography. Up to 30 PAH compounds have been identified. The concentration levels are low, respectively 0.8 – 7.7μg/1, 0.5–1.1 μg/g and 0.002 – 0.2μg/1 of sum PAH have been determined in sewage discharge, mussels and tap water. The accumulation rate in mussels seems to be rather slow at the ambient water concentrations.     

加拿大地盾湖泊中的沿岸小型甲壳动物(枝角目和桡足亚纲)酸化指示种

在过去两次间隔10年的加拿大地盾湖泊调查中,我们确定了一些沿岸小型甲壳动物的酸性指示种.我们总共发现了90种其丰度在非酸性湖中比在酸性湖中高出几倍的枝角目动物和桡足亚纲动物.在这两次调查中非酸性湖泊的动物群有所变化.1987年的调查中使用了活动捕集器,比在后来的、拉网式的调查中捕到的沿岸生物种类多.这两次调查中均在酸性湖泊中发现了类似的动物群,并找到了几个很好的指示种.例如,Acanthocycops vernalis只存在于pH值小于6的湖泊中.Sinobosmina sp.是常见物种,但只存在于pH值大于4.8的湖泊中.Tropocyclops extensus(近剑水蚤属)、Mesocyclops edax和Sida crystallina(晶莹仙达蚤)比较常见,但只存在于pH值大于5的湖泊中;而Chydorus faviformis(盘肠蚤属)只存在于pH值大于5.9的湖泊中.在两次调查活动中均接受调查的3个湖泊中,这些酸性指示种在从酸化中复原的早期阶段进行的测定中显示出较好的前景.